Method and apparatus for providing three-dimensional territorial broadcasting based on non real time service

ABSTRACT

Provided is a method and apparatus for outputting an additional image independently of a reference image in a broadcasting receiver including a communicator to receive a stream of an additional image of a three-dimensional (3D) broadcast in non-real time, and receive a stream of a reference image of the 3D broadcast in real-time and a processor to generate a 3D image of the 3D broadcast based on the stream of the additional image and the stream of the reference image.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to technology for providing athree-dimensional (3D) broadcast and, more particularly, to a method andapparatus for providing a 3D broadcast based on a non-real-time service.

BACKGROUND ART

A distance from an object may be recognized through a binocularparallax. Based on a principle of stereoscopic recognition using anoptic angle, a three-dimensional (3D) image may provide a cubic effectto both eyes of a user.

The 3D image may be provided using a plurality of two-dimensional (2D)images. For example, the 3D image may be generated using a 2D imagecorresponding to a left eye of the user and a 2D image corresponding toa right eye of the user.

A current broadcasting environment may be appropriate for transmittingthe 2D image. The 2D image used in the current broadcasting environmentmay be a reference image of the 3D image. By adding an additional imageto the reference image, the 3D image may be provided to the user.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Goals

An aspect of the present invention provides a method and apparatus fortransmitting a three-dimensional (3D) image based on a non-real-timeservice.

Another aspect of the present invention also provides a method andapparatus for receiving a 3D image.

Technical Solutions

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided abroadcasting receiver including a communicator to receive a stream of anadditional image of a three-dimensional (3D) broadcast in non-real time,and receive a stream of a reference image of the 3D broadcast inreal-time, and a processor to generate a 3D image of the 3D broadcastbased on the stream of the additional image and the stream of thereference image, wherein the additional image is allowed to be outputindependently of the reference image.

The communicator may receive the stream of the additional image inadvance of receiving the stream of the reference image.

A different terrestrial channel may be assigned to each of the stream ofthe additional image and the stream of the reference image such that theadditional image is allowed to be output independently of the referenceimage.

Whether the additional image is allowed to be output independently ofthe reference image may be indicated in a capabilities_descriptorincluded in the stream of the additional image.

The broadcasting receiver may further include a storage to store thestream of the additional image.

The stream of the reference image may include metadata for generatingthe 3D image.

The metadata may include synchronization information for synchronizingthe reference image and the additional image.

The processor may acquire information on contents provided innon-real-time by parsing a stream of the real-time broadcasting, and thecommunicator may request the stream of the additional image based on theinformation.

The information may be included in the stream of the real-timebroadcasting.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is alsoprovided a broadcasting server including a communicator to transmit astream of an additional image of a 3D broadcast to a receiver innon-real-time, and transmit a stream of a reference image of the 3Dbroadcast to the receiver in real-time, and a processor to assign adifferent terrestrial channel to each of the stream of the additionalimage and the stream of the reference image, wherein, in response to theassigning, the additional image is allowed to be output independently ofthe reference image from the receiver.

The communicator may transmit the stream of the additional image inadvance of transmitting the stream of the reference image.

Whether the additional image is allowed to be output independently ofthe reference image may be indicated in a capabilities_descriptorincluded in the stream of the additional image.

The stream of the reference image may include metadata for generatingthe 3D image.

The metadata may include information for synchronizing the referenceimage and the additional image.

The communicator may transmit information on contents provided innon-real-time, to the receiver based on a stream of the real-timebroadcasting, and receive a request for the stream of the additionalimage based on the information, from the receiver.

The information may be included in the stream of the real-timebroadcasting.

The processor may perform signaling on each of the stream of theadditional image and the stream of the reference image based on aprogram map table (PMT) to assign the different terrestrial channel toeach of the stream of the additional image and the stream of thereference image.

The processor may assign two terrestrial channels to the stream of thereference image, and the terrestrial channels may be a terrestrialchannel applying the reference image to a two-dimensional (2D) broadcastand a terrestrial channel applying the reference image to the 3Dbroadcast.

The processor may perform signaling on the stream of the reference imagebased on a PMT corresponding to each of the terrestrial channels toassign the terrestrial channels to the stream of the reference image.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there isalso provided a broadcasting reception method including receiving astream of an additional image of a 3D broadcast in non-real-time,receiving a stream of a reference image of the 3D broadcast inreal-time, and generating a 3D image of the 3D broadcast using thestream of the additional image and the stream of the reference image,wherein the additional image is allowed to be output independently ofthe reference image.

Advantageous Effects

According to an aspect of the present invention, it is possible toprovide a broadcasting reception method and a broadcasting receiver foran additional image in non-real-time, receiving a reference image, andproviding an additional image to a user independently.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a broadcasting system for providing athree-dimensional (3D) image according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a broadcastingserver according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a broadcastingreceiver according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a signal flow of a broadcastingprovision method according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a stream of anadditional image according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a stream of areference image according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method of assigning a differentterrestrial channel to each of a stream of an additional image and astream of a reference image according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a broadcastingserver according to an example embodiment.

FIGS. 9 through 12 are flowcharts illustrating a 3D image generationmethod of a broadcasting receiver according to an example embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail withreference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numeralsrefer to like elements throughout.

Various alterations and modifications may be made to the exemplaryembodiments, some of which will be illustrated in detail in the drawingsand detailed description. However, it should be understood that theseembodiments are not construed as limited to the illustrated forms andinclude all changes, equivalents or alternatives within the idea and thetechnical scope of this disclosure.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “include” and/or“have,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, components orcombinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition ofone or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms including technical and scientificterms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one ofordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements, andredundant descriptions of like elements will be omitted herein. When itis determined a detailed description of a related known function orconfiguration they may make the purpose of the present inventionunnecessarily ambiguous in describing the present invention, thedetailed description will be omitted herein.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a broadcasting system for providing athree-dimensional (3D) image according to an example embodiment.

A 3D broadcast program may include a 3D image, an audio, and ancillarydata. Hereinafter, the 3D broadcast program may also be referred to as a3D broadcast. The 3D image may include a left image and a right image.

The 3D image may be provided based on a reference image, for example, abase view video, and an additional image, for example, an additionalview video. The reference image may be a two-dimensional (2D) image. Theadditional image may be an image added to the reference image forprovision of the 3D image. A viewpoint of the additional image maydiffer from a viewpoint of the reference image.

For example, the reference image may be the left image, and theadditional image may be the right image. The left image may be an imagefor a left eye of an audience. The right image may be an image for aright eye of the audience.

When the 3D image is configured by compressing a plurality of images, atleast one of the plurality of images may be a broadcasting servicecorresponding to the 2D image having a resolution identical to a productresolution. The plurality of images may include the reference image andthe additional image.

A broadcasting server 100 may transmit the reference image and theadditional image to a broadcasting receiver 110. For example, thebroadcasting server 100 may convert each of the reference image and theadditional image into a transport stream (TS) and transmit a result ofthe converting to the broadcasting receiver 110. Hereinafter, the TS mayalso be referred to as a stream.

In an example, the broadcasting server 100 may transmit the additionalimage in non-real-time. For example, the broadcasting server 100 maytransmit the additional image in non-real-time based on an advancedtelevision system committee (ATSC) non-real-time (NRT) service.

The broadcasting server 100 may transmit the reference image inreal-time. For example, the broadcasting server 100 may transmit thereference image in real time based on an ATSC terrestrial service.

The ancillary data may include subscription data on the 3D broadcast.The ancillary data may also include channel signaling section data. Theancillary data may be multiplexed with the reference image andincorporated in a stream of the reference image.

In an example, the additional image transmitted to the broadcastingreceiver 110 may be used to generate the 3D image.

In another example, the additional image transmitted to the broadcastingreceiver 110 may be output from the broadcasting receiver 110independently of the reference image. For example, when the broadcastingserver 100 assigns a channel to the additional image, the additionalimage may be output from the broadcasting receiver 110 as an independentimage of the reference image.

Hereinafter, descriptions about a method of independently outputting theadditional image will be provided with reference to FIGS. 2 through 12.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a broadcastingserver according to an example embodiment.

The broadcasting server 100 may include a communicator 210, a processor220, and a storage 230.

The communicator 210 may be connected to a different server, a terminal,and the like.

The processor 220 may process information received by the communicator210 and information stored in the storage 230.

The storage 230 may store the information received by the communicator210 and information processed by the processor 220.

Descriptions about the communicator 210, the processor 220, and thestorage 230 will also be provided with reference to FIGS. 4 through 8.

Repeated descriptions with respect to FIG. 2 will be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness because the descriptions provided withreference to FIG. 1 are also applicable to FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a broadcastingreceiver according to an example embodiment.

The broadcasting receiver 110 may include a communicator 310, aprocessor 320, and a storage 330.

The communicator 310 may be connected to a server, a terminal, and thelike.

The processor 320 may process information received by the communicator310 and information stored in the storage 330.

The storage 330 may store the information received by the communicator310 and information processed by the processor 320.

Descriptions about the communicator 310, the processor 320, and thestorage 330 will also be provided with reference to FIGS. 4 through 12.

Repeated descriptions with respect to FIG. 3 will be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness because the descriptions provided withreference to FIG. 1 are also applicable to FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a signal flow of a broadcastingprovision method according to an example embodiment.

In operation 405, the processor 220 may generate a stream of a real-timebroadcasting and a live broadcasting. The real-time broadcasting may bea broadcasting based on a broadcasting schedule of a broadcastingstation operating the broadcasting server 100.

The stream of the real-time broadcasting may include information on anNRT service. Whether a predetermined broadcast is a 3D broadcast may beindicated in the information on the NRT service. The predeterminedbroadcast may be a broadcast transmitted to the broadcasting receiver110 in real-time. For example, a stream type of the information on theNRT service may be 0x0D, a DSMCC-addressable section, established in anATSC non-real-time content delivery (A/103:2012) standard.

In operation 410, the communicator 210 may transmit the stream of thereal-time broadcasting to the broadcasting receiver 110. For example,the stream of the real-time broadcasting may be transmitted based on anATSC terrestrial service.

The communicator 310 may receive the stream of the real-timebroadcasting from the broadcasting server 100.

In operation 415, the processor 320 may parse the stream of thereal-time broadcasting.

The stream of the real-time broadcasting may include information oncontents provided in non-real-time.

The processor 320 may acquire the information on the contents providedin non-real-time by parsing the stream of the real-time broadcasting.For example, the processor 320 may provide the information on the NRTservice to an audience or a user of the broadcasting receiver 110 byparsing the stream of the real-time broadcasting.

In operation 420, the communicator 420 may receive a request for anadditional image of a predetermined broadcast from the user. Forexample, the predetermined broadcast may be the 3D broadcast.

In operation 425, the communicator 310 may transmit the request for thestream of the additional image to the broadcasting server 100 based onthe information on the contents provided in non-real-time. For example,a request for the additional image may be transmitted based on an ATSCNRT service.

The communicator 210 may receive the request for the additional imagefrom the broadcasting receiver 110.

In operation 430, the processor 220 may generate the stream of theadditional image.

Although FIG. 4 illustrates operation 430 to be performed subsequent tooperation 425, operation 430 may be performed in advance of performingoperation 425. For example, the processor 220 may generate the stream ofthe additional image in advance. The storage 230 may store the generatedstream of the additional image.

Descriptions about a method of generating the stream of the additionalimage will be provided with reference to FIG. 5.

In operation 435, the communicator 210 may transmit the stream of theadditional image to the broadcasting receiver 110. For example, thecommunicator 210 may transmit the stream of the additional image to thebroadcasting receiver 110 in non-real-time.

The communicator 310 may receive the stream of the additional image fromthe broadcasting server 100 in non-real-time.

The communicator 310 may receive the stream of the additional image inadvance of receiving a stream of a reference image.

The processor 320 may store the stream of the additional image in thestorage 330.

In operation 445, the processor 220 may generate a stream of a referenceimage of a predetermined broadcast.

Operation 445 may be performed on the predetermined broadcast based on aschedule of a broadcasting station.

Descriptions about a method of generating the stream of the referenceimage will be provided with reference to FIG. 6.

In operation 450, the communicator 210 may transmit the stream of thereference image to the broadcasting receiver 110 in real-time. Forexample, the stream of the reference image may be transmitted based onthe ATSC terrestrial service.

The communicator 310 may receive the stream of the reference image fromthe broadcasting server 100 in real-time.

In operation 455, the processor 320 may generate a 3D image based on thestream of the additional image and the stream of the reference image.

In operation 460, the processor 320 may output the 3D image to the user.

In operation 465, the processor 320 may output the additional image tothe user. The additional image may be output independently of thereference image. Concisely, the additional image may also be outputirrespective of the reference image when the reference image is notreceived.

For example, when the additional image is a right image of the 3D image,the processor 320 may output only the right image to the user.

Repeated descriptions with respect to FIG. 4 will be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness because the descriptions provided withreference to FIGS. 1 through 3 are also applicable to FIG. 4.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a stream of anadditional image according to an example embodiment.

Operation 430 may include operations 510 through 530 described below.

In operation 510, the communicator 210 may receive an additional image.As an example, the communicator 210 may receive the additional imagefrom the storage 230. As another example, the communicator 210 mayreceive the additional image from another server providing theadditional image.

In operation 520, the processor 220 may encode the additional image. Theencoding of the additional image may be performed by compressing theadditional image.

For example, the processor 220 may encode the additional image andgenerate a moving picture experts group (MPEG)-2 stream. The MPEG-2stream may comply with the Information technology—Generic coding ofmoving pictures and associated audio information: System (ISO/IEC13818-1:2013) standard.

An encoding form of the encoded additional image may be one of formsshown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Number of Number of Display aspect Display refresh rate scanninglines pixels ratio (Hz) 1080 1920 16:9 60I, 30P, 24P  720 1280 16:9 60P,30P, 24P

In the display refresh rate of Table 1, P denotes a progressivescanning, and I denotes an interlace scanning.

The stream type of the additional image may comply with the standard oftransmission and reception for terrestrial 3D television (TV)broadcasting—Part I: Existing channel (TTAK.KO-07.0100/R1).

An encoding scheme and a decoding scheme described below may comply withthe standard of transmission and reception for terrestrial 3DTVbroadcasting—Part I: Existing channel (TTAK.KO-07.0100/R1).

In operation 530, the processor 220 may perform channel multiplexing onthe stream of the additional image. For example, the processor 220 mayperform the channel multiplexing on the stream of the additional imageby signaling the stream of the additional image. The channelmultiplexing may indicate assigning a channel number to the stream ofthe additional image.

Contents on program specific information (PSI) may comply with thestandard of transmission and reception for terrestrial 3DTV broadcasting(TTAK.KO-07.0014/R3).

Contents on the signaling of the stream of the additional image maycomply with the standard of ATSC non-real-time content delivery(A/103:2012).

The signaling of the stream of the additional image for the NRT servicemay be performed using a service signaling channel (SSC). A service maptable (SMT) of information transferred to the SST may provideinformation on the NRT service. An NRT-information table (IT) of theinformation transferred to the SSC may provide information on a contentsitem included in the NRT service. The SMT and the NRT-IT may comply withthe standard of SSC (Doc.A/103:2012).

The additional image may be an image for use in the 3D broadcast or animage playback based on a separate 2D broadcast.

For example, when the processor 220 assigns a different terrestrialchannel to each of the stream of the additional image and the stream ofthe reference image, the additional image may be output from thebroadcasting receiver 110 independently of the reference image.

The processor 220 may perform signaling on the stream of the additionalimage and the stream of the reference image based on a program map table(PMT) to assign the different terrestrial channel to each of the streamof the additional image and the stream of the reference image.

Descriptions about a method of signaling based on the PMT will beprovided with reference to FIG. 7.

A capabilities_descriptor may be used to determine whether theadditional image is an image for use in the 3D broadcast or an imageplayback based on the 2D broadcast. For example, whether the additionalimage is allowed to be output independently of the reference image maybe indicated in the capabilities_descriptor included in the stream ofthe additional image.

The capabilities_descriptor may comply with the standard of ATSCnon-real-time content delivery (Doc.A/103: 2012).

Capability_codes included in the capabilities_descriptor may be extendedas shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Capability_code Contents 0x52 Additional image of compatible 3Dimage (disallowed to be used as independent 2D image) 0x53 Additionalimage of compatible 3D image (allowed to be used as independent 2Dimage)

Descriptions about a method of using the additional image as anindependent 2D image will be provided with reference to FIG. 7.

Repeated descriptions with respect to FIG. 5 will be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness because the descriptions provided withreference to FIGS. 1 through 4 are also applicable to FIG. 5.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating a stream of areference image according to an example embodiment.

Operation 445 may include operations 610 through 640 described below.

In operation 610, the communicator 210 may receive a reference image. Asan example, the communicator 210 may receive the reference image fromthe storage 230. As another example, the communicator 210 may receivethe reference image from another server providing the reference image.

In operation 620, the processor 220 may encode the reference image. Theencoding of the reference image may indicate performing a compression onthe reference image. The encoding of the reference image may comply withthe standard of transmission and reception for terrestrial 3DTVbroadcasting—Part I: Existing channel (TTAK.KO-07.0100/R1).

An encoding form of the encoded reference image may be one of formsshown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Number of Number of Display aspect Display refresh rate scanninglines pixels ratio (Hz) 1080 1920 16:9 60I, 30P, 24P  720 1280 16:9 60P,30P, 24P

In a process of encoding the reference image, the processor 220 mayencode the reference image based on ancillary data. For example, theancillary data may be closed captioning data.

The form of the encoded reference image may be an elementary stream (ES)In operation 630, the processor 220 may perform a program multiplexingon the encoded reference image.

The processor 220 may perform the program multiplexing based on metadatafor the encoded reference image, an encoded audio signal, and theadditional image.

In an example, a stream of reference image generated by performing theprogram multiplexing may include metadata for generating the 3D image.

The metadata may include program specific information (PSI).

The PSI may include at least one of a program association table (PAT)for maintaining a program data list, a conditional access table (CAT)including access control information such as a scrambling, a PMTincluding information on an audio stream and an image stream in aprogram, a network information table (NIT) including information on anetwork being used for transmitting MPEG information.

The PMT may provide information on each program included in a stream anda program_number. The PMT may list ESs configuring an MPEG-2 program.The PMT may provide location information for an optional descriptordescribing a complete MPEG-2 stream and an optional descriptor for eachof the ESs. Each of the ESs may be identified based on a stream_typevalue.

In an example, the processor 220 may perform the program multiplexingbased on at least one PMT.

A broadcast provided based on the reference image may be the 2Dbroadcast or the 3D broadcast. The processor 220 may indicate whetherthe broadcast is the 2D broadcast or the 3D broadcast based on each PMT.

As an example, the processor 220 may assign two terrestrial channels tothe stream of the reference image. The terrestrial channels may be aterrestrial channel for using the reference image to the 2D broadcastand a channel using the reference channel to the 3D broadcast. Theprocessor 220 may perform signaling on the stream of the reference imagebased on a PMT corresponding to each of the terrestrial channels toassign the terrestrial channels to the stream of the reference image.

As an example, the processor 220 may assign a code indicating that the2D broadcast is being provided, to a first PMT. A 2D broadcast code maybe program_number=0x001. The first PMT may be associated with thereference image and an audio signal.

The processor 220 may assign a code indicating that the 3D broadcast isbeing provided, to a second PMT. A 3D broadcast code may beprogram_number=0x002. The second PMT may be associated with metadata forthe additional image and information on an NRT service used fortransferring the additional image, the audio signal, and the referenceimage.

In an example, the processor 220 may generate an MPEG-2 stream byperforming the program multiplexing on the reference image. The MPEG-2stream may comply with the standard of Information technology—Genericcoding of moving pictures and associated audio information: System(ISO/IEC 13818-1:2013).

The metadata may include synchronization information for synchronizingthe reference image and the additional image.

The synchronization information may be described in amedia_pairing_information( ). The synchronization information may complywith the standard of transmission and reception for terrestrial 3DTVbroadcasting—Part III: Hybrid (TTAK.KO-07.0122).

The program multiplexing may comply with the standard of transmissionand reception for terrestrial 3DTV broadcasting (TTAK.KO-07.0014/R3) andISO/IEC 13818-1:2013.

The stream type of the metadata may comply with the standard oftransmission and reception for terrestrial 3DTV broadcasting—Part I:Existing channel (TTAK.KO-07.0100/R1).

The stream type of the metadata may be 0x06, for example, private data,established in ISO/IEC 13818-1:2013.

The stream type of the information on the NRT service may adopt 0x0D,for example, a DSMCC-addressable section, established in the standard ofATSC non-real-time content delivery (A/103:2012).

The PMT may include a stereoscopic program information descriptor, forexample, stereoscopic_program_info_descriptor( ), and a stereoscopicvideo information descriptor, for example,stereoscopic_video_info_descriptor( ).

Stereo scopic_program_info_descriptor( ) andstereoscopic_video_info_descriptor( ) may comply with the standard oftransmission and reception for terrestrial 3DTV broadcasting—Part I:Existing channel (TTAK.KO-070.0100/R1).

In operation 640, the processor 220 may perform a channel multiplexingon the stream of the reference image. The channel multiplexing mayindicate assigning a channel number to the stream of the referenceimage.

For example, the processor 220 may perform the channel multiplexing onthe stream of the reference image by signaling the stream of thereference image.

Contents on the PSI may comply with the standard of transmission andreception for terrestrial 3DTV broadcasting (TTAK.KO-07.0014/R3).

In an example, the processor 220 may perform the channel multiplexing onthe stream of the reference image based on at least one PMT.Descriptions about the channel multiplexing will also be provided withreference to FIG. 7.

Repeated descriptions with respect to FIG. 6 will be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness because the descriptions provided withreference to FIGS. 1 through 5 are also applicable to FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method of assigning a differentterrestrial channel to each of a stream of an additional image and astream of a reference image according to an example embodiment.

A 3D broadcast may include a reference image, an audio, PSI/PSIP,private data, and an additional image.

The processor 220 may assign a plurality of terrestrial channels to astream of the reference image based on whether a broadcasting based onthe reference image is a 2D broadcast or the 3D broadcast. For example,the processor 220 may assign a channel 1 to a broadcasting based on afirst PMT. The processor 220 may assign a channel 2 to a broadcastingbased on a second PMT.

The processor 220 may assign a different terrestrial channel to a streamof the additional image when compared to the stream of the referenceimage such that the additional image is allowed to be output from thebroadcasting receiver 110 independent of the reference image. Forexample, when a third PMT is associated with the stream of theadditional image, the processor 220 may assign a channel 3, to abroadcasting based on the third PMT.

The channel may be a virtual channel.

The processor 220 may apply a previously serviced channel signaling tothe 2D broadcast, and assign a channel number different from that of the2D broadcast to the 3D broadcast based on a terrestrial virtual channeltable (TVCT).

The processor 220 may assign a channel number different from otherchannel numbers with respect to the stream of the additional image byusing the TVCT.

The processor 220 may perform signaling on a program identifier (PID)value of an ES configuring a hybrid 3DTV broadcasting based on aservice_location_descriptor.

An ATSC NRT service-based channel may be identified based on aservice_type 0x09, for example, an extended parameterized service.

The processor 220 may perform signaling to determine whether the 3Dbroadcast is verified and a type of the 3D broadcast based on aparameterzied_service_descriptor (PSD).

A channel for transmitting the stream of the additional image may use aservice_type, for example, an ATSC NRT Service.

The PSD may be included in the TVCT corresponding to a service_type0x09.

The PSD may provide an explanation about a broadcasting service.

The processor 220 may perform signaling to determine whether acorresponding broadcasting service is supported in the broadcastingreceiver 110 based on the PSD.

Descriptions about the PSD will be provided with reference to Table 4.

TABLE 4 Syntax Number of bits Form parameterized_service_descriptor( ){descriptor_tag 8 uimsbf descriptor_length 8 uimsbf application_tag 8bslbf application_data( ) var  }

In table 4, application_tag may indicate a subsequent application_data(). In a case of the 3D broadcast, a value of the application_tag may be0x01.

Also, a syntax of the application_data( ) may be defined based on thevalue of the application_tag. When the value of the application_tag is“0x01”, the syntax of the application_data( ) may be expressed as shownin Table 5.

TABLE 5 Syntax Number of bits Form application_data(0x01){ reserved 3uimsbf 3D_channel_type 5 uimsbf for (i=0; i<N; i++){ reserved 8 bslbf }}

In Table 5, 3D_channel_type may indicate type information on the 3Dbroadcast. An ATSC NRT-based 3D broadcast may be set as 0x05.

Descriptions about a value of the 3D_channel_type will be provided withreference to Table 6.

TABLE 6 Value Indication 0x00-0x03 Reserved 0x04 Internet protocol (IP)hybrid 3DTV service 0x05 ATSC NRT-based terrestrial 3DTV service0x06-0x1F ATSC reserved

To provide guide information on the ATSC NRT-based 3D broadcast,stereoscopic_program_info_descriptor( ) may be added to an eventinformation table (EIT) of a program and system information protocol(PSIP). Stereoscopic_program_info_descriptor( ) may be disposed to adescriptor loop describing an event of the EIT.

Repeated descriptions with respect to FIG. 7 will be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness because the descriptions provided withreference to FIGS. 1 through 6 are also applicable to FIG. 7.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a broadcastingserver according to an example embodiment.

The broadcasting server 100 may include a 3D contents server, an audiosignal encoder, a reference image encoder, a program multiplexer, anadditional image encoder, an NRT encoder, a channel multiplexer, and aterrestrial channel transmitter.

The storage 230 may include the 3D contents server.

The processor 220 may include the audio signal encoder, the referenceimage encoder, the program multiplexer, the additional image encoder,the NRT encoder, and the channel multiplexer.

The communicator 210 may include the terrestrial channel transmitter.

The 3D contents server may store a reference image, an additional image,and an audio signal.

The audio signal encoder may encode an audio signal.

The reference image encoder may encode the reference image. Thereference image encoder may perform operation 620 described above.

The program multiplexer may perform a program multiplexing based on thereference image, an audio signal, and metadata. The program multiplexermay perform operation 630 described above.

The channel multiplexer may perform a channel multiplexing on areference signal stream and an additional signal stream. The channelmultiplexer may perform operation 640 described above.

The additional image encoder may encode the additional image. Theadditional image encoder may perform operation 520 described above.

The NRT encoder may encode a stream of the additional image tocorrespond to an NRT service. The NRT encoder may perform operation 520as described above.

The terrestrial channel transmitter may transmit a stream of thereference image and the stream of the additional image on which thechannel multiplexing is performed.

Repeated descriptions with respect to FIG. 8 will be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness because the descriptions provided withreference to FIGS. 1 through 7 are also applicable to FIG. 8.

FIGS. 9 to 12 are flowcharts illustrating a 3D image generation methodof a broadcasting receiver according to an example embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 9 to 12, the 3D image generation method may beperformed through operations 902 to 1206 by the broadcasting receiver110 based on a stream of a reference image and a stream of an additionalimage in response to a reception.

Operations 902 to 1006 may be performed on the stream of the referenceimage.

In operation 902, the processor 320 may acquire a PAT included in thestream of the reference image by using a PSI parser. A receiver mayacquire a PMT_ID by parsing the PAT.

In operation 904, the processor 320 may acquire a table havingPID=PMT_PID by using the PSI parser. By parsing a PMT, the processor 320may acquire information on a type of a broadcasting service provided bystereoscopic_program_info_descriptor( ) andstereoscopic_video_info_descriptor( ). By parsing the PMT, the processor320 may also acquire a PID 906 of tables loading synchronizationinformation, for example, 0x05-referenced_media_information( ) and0x06-media_pairing_information( ).

Referring to FIG. 10, the processor 320 may acquire a TVCT and an EIT byusing a PSIP parser.

In operation 1002, the processor 320 may identify a broadcasting type ofa reference stream by parsing the TVCT. For example, when3D_channel_type=0x05, the reference stream may provide a 3D broadcast.

The processor 320 may provide service_location_descriptor and a PSD byparsing the TVCT.

A PID 1004 may be acquired from the service_location_descriptor.

In operation 1014, the processor 320 may acquirestereoscopic_program_info_descriptor by parsing an EIT.

Operations 1102 to 1108 described below may be performed on a stream ofan additional image.

In operations 1102 and 1104, the processor 320 may parse and analyze aPAT and a PMT to acquire information on the stream of the additionalimage.

In operation 1106, the processor 320 may decode the stream of theadditional image. For example, the stream of the additional image may bedecoded using an advanced video coding (AVC) decoder.

In operation 1108, the processor 320 may provide the additional image toa 3D image generator, for example, a formatter.

Referring to FIG. 12, a TS filter of the processor 320 may receive thePID 906 and the PID 1004.

In operation 1202, the processor 320 may process each PID using the TSfilter. The processor 320 may filter a TS based on PID=PID_PD to acquiresynchronization information. The processor 320 may filter the TS basedon PID=PID_A to acquire audio information.

In operation 1204, the processor 320 may decode a reference image usinga decoder.

In operation 1206, the processor 320 may generate a 3D image using a 3Dimage generator based on the decoded reference image and the decodedadditional image.

Repeated descriptions with respect to FIG. 12 will be omitted forincreased clarity and conciseness because the descriptions provided withreference to FIGS. 1 through 11 are also applicable to FIG. 12.

The units described herein may be implemented using hardware componentsand software components. For example, the hardware components mayinclude microphones, amplifiers, band-pass filters, audio to digitalconvertors, and processing devices. A processing device may beimplemented using one or more general-purpose or special purposecomputers, such as, for example, a processor, a controller and anarithmetic logic unit, a digital signal processor, a microcomputer, afield programmable array, a programmable logic unit, a microprocessor orany other device capable of responding to and executing instructions ina defined manner. The processing device may run an operating system (OS)and one or more software applications that run on the OS. The processingdevice also may access, store, manipulate, process, and create data inresponse to execution of the software. For purpose of simplicity, thedescription of a processing device is used as singular; however, oneskilled in the art will appreciated that a processing device may includemultiple processing elements and multiple types of processing elements.For example, a processing device may include multiple processors or aprocessor and a controller. In addition, different processingconfigurations are possible, such a parallel processors.

The methods described above can be written as a computer program, apiece of code, an instruction, or some combination thereof, forindependently or collectively instructing or configuring the processingdevice to operate as desired. Software and data may be embodiedpermanently or temporarily in any type of machine, component, physicalor virtual equipment, computer storage medium or device that is capableof providing instructions or data to or being interpreted by theprocessing device. The software also may be distributed over networkcoupled computer systems so that the software is stored and executed ina distributed fashion. In particular, the software and data may bestored by one or more non-transitory computer readable recordingmediums. The non-transitory computer readable recording medium mayinclude any data storage device that can store data that can bethereafter read by a computer system or processing device. Examples ofthe non-transitory computer readable recording medium include read-onlymemory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), Compact Disc Read-only Memory(CD-ROMs), magnetic tapes, USBs, floppy disks, hard disks, opticalrecording media (e.g., CD-ROMs, or DVDs), and PC interfaces (e.g., PCI,PCI-express, WiFi, etc.). In addition, functional programs, codes, andcode segments for accomplishing the example disclosed herein can beconstrued by programmers skilled in the art based on the flow diagramsand block diagrams of the figures and their corresponding descriptionsas provided herein.

A number of examples have been described above. Nevertheless, it shouldbe understood that various modifications may be made. For example,suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques areperformed in a different order and/or if components in a describedsystem, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a differentmanner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or theirequivalents. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope ofthe following claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

-   -   100: Broadcasting server    -   110: Broadcasting receiver    -   210: Communicator    -   220: Processor    -   230: Storage

The invention claimed is:
 1. A broadcasting receiver comprising: acommunicator to receive a stream of an additional image of athree-dimensional (3D) broadcast in non-real time, and receive a streamof a reference image of the 3D broadcast in real-time; and a processorto generate a 3D image of the 3D broadcast based on the stream of theadditional image and the stream of the reference image, wherein theadditional image is allowed to be output independently of the referenceimage, and wherein whether the additional image is allowed to be outputindependently of the reference image is indicated in a capabilitiesdescriptor included in the stream of the additional image.
 2. Thereceiver of claim 1, wherein the communicator receives the stream of theadditional image in advance of receiving the stream of the referenceimage.
 3. The receiver of claim 1, wherein a different terrestrialchannel is assigned to each of the stream of the additional image andthe stream of the reference image such that the additional image isallowed to be output independently of the reference image.
 4. Thereceiver of claim 1, further comprising: a storage to store the streamof the additional image.
 5. The receiver of claim 1, wherein the streamof the reference image comprises metadata for generating the 3D image.6. The receiver of claim 5, wherein the metadata comprisessynchronization information for synchronizing the reference image andthe additional image.
 7. The receiver of claim 1, wherein the processoracquires information on contents provided in non-real-time by parsing astream of the real-time broadcasting, and the communicator requests thestream of the additional image based on the information.
 8. The receiverof claim 7, wherein the information is comprised in the stream of thereal-time broadcasting.
 9. A broadcasting server comprising: acommunicator to transmit a stream of an additional image of athree-dimensional (3D) broadcast to a receiver in non-real-time, andtransmit a stream of a reference image of the 3D broadcast to thereceiver in real-time; and a processor to assign a different terrestrialchannel to each of the stream of the additional image and the stream ofthe reference image, wherein, in response to the assigning, theadditional image is allowed to be output independently of the referenceimage from the receiver, and wherein whether the additional image isallowed to be output independently of the reference image is indicatedin a capabilities descriptor included in the stream of the additionalimage.
 10. The server of claim 9, wherein the communicator transmits thestream of the additional image in advance of transmitting the stream ofthe reference image.
 11. The server of claim 9, wherein the stream ofthe reference image comprises metadata for generating the 3D image. 12.The server of claim 11, wherein the metadata comprises information forsynchronizing the reference image and the additional image.
 13. Theserver of claim 9, wherein the communicator transmits information oncontents provided in non-real-time, to the receiver based on a stream ofthe real-time broadcasting, and receives a request for the stream of theadditional image based on the information, from the receiver.
 14. Theserver of claim 13, wherein the information is comprised in the streamof the real-time broadcasting.
 15. The server of claim 9, wherein theprocessor performs signaling on each of the stream of the additionalimage and the stream of the reference image based on a program map table(PMT) to assign the different terrestrial channel to each of the streamof the additional image and the stream of the reference image.
 16. Theserver of claim 9, wherein the processor assigns two terrestrialchannels to the stream of the reference image, and terrestrial channelsare a terrestrial channel applying the reference image to atwo-dimensional (2D) broadcast and a terrestrial channel applying thereference image to the 3D broadcast.
 17. The server of claim 16, whereinthe processor performs signaling on the stream of the reference imagebased on a PMT corresponding to each of the terrestrial channels toassign the terrestrial channels to the stream of the reference image.18. A broadcasting reception method comprising: receiving a stream of anadditional image of a three-dimensional (3D) broadcast in non-real-time;receiving a stream of a reference image of the 3D broadcast inreal-time; and generating a 3D image of the 3D broadcast using thestream of the additional image and the stream of the reference image,wherein the additional image is allowed to be output independently ofthe reference image, and wherein whether the additional image is allowedto be output independently of the reference image is indicated in acapabilities descriptor included in the stream of the additional image.